President Obama to Deliver Commencement Address at Rutgers University

President Barack Obama will deliver remarks to more than 12,000 graduating students and 40,000 guests at Rutgers University’s 250th anniversary commencement ceremony on May 15.

“We are delighted that President Obama has chosen to address our graduates at this year’s historic commencement,” said Rutgers University President Robert Barchi in a statement today.

This is the first time in Rutgers University’s history that a sitting president will speak at the school’s speak at commencement. Rutgers students, faculty, staff and alumni, and members of the New Jersey congressional delegation sent numerous messages to the White House urging the president to speak at the school in honor if the 250th anniversary graduation ceremony, Barchi said.

Obama will deliver his remarks at the High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway. More than 12,000 graduates representing 22 academic departments from Rutgers-New Brunswick and Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences are scheduled to receive their academic degrees.

Established in 1766, Rutgers is America’s eighth oldest institution of higher learning. Since granting its first degree in 1774, Rutgers has awarded more than 550,000 academic degrees. The university enrolls more than 67,000 students each year.

Next month’s commencement ceremony is part of Rutgers 250, a yearlong celebration that culminates on Nov. 10, 2016 – the 250th anniversary of the birth of Queen’s College. That colonial institution became Rutgers College in 1825. In 1924, Rutgers College assumed university status. By 1956, acts by the New Jersey State Legislature designated all of Rutgers’ divisions as The State University of New Jersey.